Movie Review for Desperado

Summary: In this follow-up to the 1992 original, the Mariachi plunges headfirst into the dark border underworld when he follows a trail of blood to the last of the infamous Mexican druglords, Bucho, for an action-packed, bullet-riddled showdown. With the help of his best friend and a beautiful book store owner, the Mariachi tracks Bucho, takes on his army of desperados, and leaves a trail of blood of his own.

                         Reviews of Desperado
By Marjorie Baumgarten of Austin Chronicle (7/0)
            A bust-a-gut film experience that reveals Rodriguez as both a stylist versed in the mechanics of ...

By Bryant Frazer of Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus (7/0)
            As movies go, Desperado is a great big assault weapon with the trigger squeezed hard. It's effect...

By Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times (7/0)
            What happens looks terrific. Now if [Rodriguez] can harness that technical facility to a screenpl...

By Brian Mckay of eFilmCritic.com (6/1)
            A supreme example of style vs. substance - and style wins!

By Emanuel Levy of EmanuelLevy.Com (7/0)
            A slicker, more expensive version than El Mariach, except that what was promising and charming fo...

By Bob McCabe of Empire Magazine (7/0)
            It's big, it's daft, but Desperado is confident and hugely entertaining filmmaking.

                         Reviews of Desperado
By Christopher Null of filmcritic.com (7/0)
            Enough blood to fill a swimming pool!

By Kenneth Turan of Los Angeles Times (7/0)
            What Rodriguez has essentially done in Desperado is make a slicker, more expensive copy of what c...

By Mike Bracken of Mike Bracken's Horror Films (7/0)
            If John Woo and Quentin Tarantino had a kid, the kid would probably be a lot like Robert Rodrigue...

By Kevin N. Laforest of Montreal Film Journal (7/0)
            I love Rodriguez' style, and his film is always fun. Too bad he didn't bother giving his story an...

By Michael Dequina of Mr. Brown's Movies (7/0)
            An incredibly violent and infinitely entertaining shoot-'em-up.

By Jeanne Aufmuth of Palo Alto Weekly (7/0)
            A zesty action thriller that recycles the best of the B genres and rolls them into a big-budget, ...

                         Reviews of Desperado
By Cynthia Fuchs of Philadelphia City Paper (7/0)
            It's violence as a dance.

By Dragan Antulov of rec.arts.movies.reviews (7/0)
            Many characters and situations are repetitive and the film is overlong, and at times even boring.

By James Berardinelli of ReelViews (7/0)
            Bloated and overlong.

By Peter Travers of Rolling Stone (7/0)
            Desperado is best when Rodriguez lets his playful side cut through the blare of a born filmmaker ...

By Mick LaSalle of San Francisco Chronicle (7/0)
            The routine gets tiresome for the Mariachi, and for the audience, too, after about an hour.

By Barbara Shulgasser of San Francisco Examiner (7/0)
            On the one hand, Rodriguez sticks with what he knows -- screwball action-adventure. On the other ...

                         Reviews of Desperado
By Rob Blackwelder of SPLICEDWire (7/0)
            There's nothing like going into a movie with high expectations and coming out in awe....What (Rod...

By Geoff Andrew of Time Out (7/0)
            Rodriguez's second feature may be a rambling, derivative exercise in gratuitous violence, but its...

By Urban Cinefile Critics of Urban Cinefile (7/0)
            There’s plenty of action and will keep Banderas fans happy, but somehow lacks the charm of the or...

By Desson Thomson of Washington Post (7/0)
            In this movie, words and actions speak equally loudly.

By Rita Kempley of Washington Post (7/0)
            On the whole, watching the film is about as much fun as sitting on a cactus.

By Janet Maslin of New York Times (3/5) Login Required (Login Required)
            Mr. Rodriguez may be good enough to make a film about anything, but Desperado would collapse if i...

                         Reviews of Desperado
By Lael Loewenstein of Boxoffice Magazine (6/1) No reference
            Banderas oozes sexual charisma and strength, and the supporting cast is strong all around, especi...

By Madeleine Williams of Cinematter (6/1) No reference
            A wonderfully exciting and hypnotic action film.

By Chris Hicks of Deseret News, Salt Lake City (6/1) No reference
            Around the halfway or two-thirds mark, the bloody killings become far too redundant, the best sup...

By Forrest Hartman of Reno Gazette-Journal (6/1) No reference
            Desperado has merit as a guilty pleasure, but when the violence and action grow tiresome, the fil...

By Jeremiah Kipp of ToxicUniverse.com (6/1) No reference
            If Rodriguez is still stumbling forward, finding his way, at least he’s got panache and character...

Movie Distributors
Sony Pictures Releasing

Production Companies
Los Hooligans Productions

Movie Studios
Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group